Mexico City Junior Grand Prix - Day 1

by Alexandra Stevenson

AMERICANS DOMINATE FIRST DAY OF JUNIOR GRAND PRIX IN MEXICO CITY

(Sep. 6, 2013)Nathan Chen
and ice dancers Kaitlin Hawayek & Jean-Luc Baker were
the cream of the crop in the first day’s
competition in Mexico City’s Junior Grand
Prix, originally scheduled for a new rink,
but moved to an entertainment complex. The
skaters are already feeling the strain of the
high, 7,350 feet altitude.

In the Men's event,
skating last in a field of 19 competitors
from 15 countries, 14-year-old
“homeless” Chen, whose Lake Arrowhead
training location closed up shop this past
Friday, presented a polished Short Program,
cleverly choreographed with his triple Lutz
to triple toe loop and his triple loop in
the second half of the routine, where they
earned the 10% bonus for jumps after the
halfway point.

That made up for his first element being “only” a double Axel
while his leading rival, Ryuju Hino, 18, from Japan, soared
through a triple Axel. Hino had only one
jump in the second half, and received two
negative Grades of Executions, -0.80 off his
triple Lutz to triple toe loop score and
only Level 2 with -0.39 off his GoE for his
change foot camel spin.

Chen, who
was the U.S. champion at Junior Level in
2012 but only third in that contest last
January, scored 74.22 (40.48+33.74). He lies
an enormous 6.92 points ahead of Hino, the
second placed competitor, an 18-year-old who
has claimed his national Junior title for
the past two seasons. Hino’s score was 67.30
(38.48+28.82).

Chen performed to music
selected from to music from the Summer and
Winter sections of Vivaldi’s “The Four
Seasons”. Hino’s dynamic routine was set to
Kodo Drums, and finished with a sensational
spin in which the rotational of his final
position, cross foot, was so fast, it
appeared blurred.

Andre Lazukin
from Russia lies third with 66.28 (35.74
+30.54).

Chen drew to skate last
again in the Free, but doesn’t seem bothered
over the long wait to skate after the warmup.
He said he had not expected to be in lead.
“It was an amazing competition. I sort of
knew I had done well after my last jump,
when I only had a spin left.”

Chen said he and his
coach Rafael Arutunian do
not know where they are moving to and are
NOT expected to train
in Cathedral City.

The second American, Tomoki Hiwatashi, a 13-year-old who
trains in Wilmette, IL, with former Soviet
Union world champion Alexi Fadeev, had to withdraw after
practicing, due to a previous ankle injury.

ICE DANCE

Kaitlin Hawayek,
who turns 17 on November 4,
& Jean-Luc Baker, who will be 19 on
October 7, were runners-up for the U.S.
Junior title early this year. They easily
established a lead of 2.65 points here in
Mexico City, with a smooth, light, extremely
competent performance, despite ice that was
a bit “bumpy and wet”.

The duo teamed up in
June 2012 after he had had considerable
success with his previous partner, who quit
the sport because of back problems. He moved
from the Seattle area to train with
Anjelika Krylova &
Pasquale Camerlengo, at the Detroit
Skating Club.

They skated their Short
Dance last of the seven couples from five
nations, commencing with a Quickstep to
“Happy Feet”, followed by a Foxtrot to “It
Had to be You” and concluded with another
Quickstep to “Sing, Sing, Sing”. The pattern
section was clearly superior. They look very
senior level, with joined hips and flawless
knee bends, although they didn’t match the
perfection they had shown earlier in the day
in practice.

In second place are the Canadians
Madeline Edwards&
Zhao Kai Pang. Their teammates,
Kate Desveaux & Dmitre Razgulaje, were
disqualified at the draw.

Skate Canada is a very
experienced Governing body but they had not
checked his passport. He left the United
States when he was around 18 months old, and
has never represented this country. However,
he has an American and not a Canadian
passport, so he was not accepted for the
competition. Skate Canada personnel are used
to Americans switching to represent the
United States. A most recent example came
when American
Piper Gillis
teamed up with Canadian Paul Poirier. But no one had considered Razgulaje
anything but Canadian.